Congressman: We should be cutting UNRWA aid
WASHINGTON – The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a markup on Tuesday for legislation, including the Stop Support for UNRWA Act of 2024, a bill that it says will prohibit aid that benefits Hamas.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, introduced the bill late last month with Rep. Adam Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC).
In October, Mast also introduced a bill that would prevent US funding or any other assistance for Gaza or the West Bank.
The original text of Mast’s UNRWA bill says, “The United States may not make any voluntary or involuntary contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (referred to in this Act as “UNRWA”), to any successor or related entity, or to the regular budget of the United Nations for the support of UNRWA or a successor entity.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Smith introduced an amendment that he said would clarify that nothing in the act may be construed to preclude the provision of humanitarian assistance through any agency or entity other than UNRWA.
The amendment would require the secretary of state to certify to Congress that such an agency does not promote, espouse, or affiliate with entities or individuals that promote violence, terrorism, or antisemitism, Smith said.
The amendment was approved 30-19. It’s unclear when the committee will take up the bill.
In a sit-down interview with The Jerusalem Post, Mast said it would be poor foreign policy for the US to support the entity at war with its ally.
“Our great ally is at war with our non-ally. And there’s one entity that is the entire workforce; nearly all of it is made up of our non-ally and works to support our non-ally, and we’re paying the salaries of these people that our non-ally is at war with,” Mast said. “We’re paying for the resources of these people. None of that adds up.”
Mast said the US doesn’t have a binary choice between providing aid and not providing aid. Rather, he said it’s a choice between American tax dollars going through UNRWA, the UN, or non-government organizations.
“There’s nothing that stops aid from going there. If some other nation that supports UNRWA wants to continue doing so, they can do so in our absence if other nations want to pick up our 30% of the bill,” Mast said. “Maybe they don’t see Israel as great of an ally as we do; then they’re welcome to do that.”
Democrats on the committee largely oppose Mast’s bill.
“I strongly oppose this measure. UNRWA is flawed, but prohibiting US funding of UNRWA while the people of Gaza are suffering an acute humanitarian disaster undermines the United States and Israel’s interests,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It erodes the United States’ moral authority and further endangers the lives of more than two million Palestinians residing in Gaza.”
Mast told the Post that even if it’s in Israel’s best interest to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, it’s irresponsible to be asked to support both sides of a war.
Mast criticized his Democratic colleague on the subcommittee for saying they can’t defend UNRWA’s actions but they’re unwilling to defund the agency.
However, Mast did acknowledge that some of his Democratic counterparts have begun shifting their opinions of the organization.
“It’s a major jump to hear members on the other side say [that] maybe they don’t agree with me that we should be cutting UNRWA funding today but to hear some of them say that they would cut them off in a year, or something like that. It’s too long for me but it’s amazing to hear them say [it],” Mast told the